Stage and screen star Steven Pasquale, most recently on Broadway in Jason Robert Brown's The Bridges of Madison County, will play Billy Bigelow in the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel for the Lyric Opera of Chicago in April 2015, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Steven Pasquale
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

As previously reported, Tony Award winner Rob Ashford, most recently represented on Broadway with the 2013 revival of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, will direct. David Chase will conduct the orchestra, and the cast will also feature Denyce Graves as Nettie Fowler. Additional casting will be announced at a later time.

Pasquale previously broke the news to Playbill.com at a recent Broadway opening night. "I'm working on 'The Good Wife' through the fall," he said, "and I'm going to do Carousel in the spring in Chicago at the Chicago Lyric Opera. It's a great role, and I hope we bring it in. Rob Ashford's directing."

Carousel bowed on Broadway in April 1945 at the Majestic Theatre, where it played 890 performances. The original cast included John Raitt and Jan Clayton. The 1956 Fox film co-starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. The celebrated score includes such tunes as "June Is Bustin' Out All Over," "Mister Snow," "Soliloquy," "What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" and "You'll Never Walk Alone."